Mother Joan of The Angels (Kawalerowicz)
1960 Second Run Blu-Ray
Before The Devils was Mother Joan! is the publicity cry from Second Run. As the new restoration of Ken Russell’s The Devils packs in cinema audiences I’d be delighted if they then turned their attention to the 4k blu ray of Mother Joan of the Angels. The same historical phenomenon of the devils of Loudon in France is now relocated to Smolensk, Poland. And if Russell gives us savage spectacle and harsh political critique then Kawalerowicz brings intimacy, restraint and a creepy observation of possession / repression. Two very different films. Both masterly. Both essential viewing.
It’s seventeenth century Smolensk, two years on since Father Garniec (Grandier in the Russell film) was wrongly accused of sexually assaulting Mother Joan (Lucyna Winnicka) and burnt at the stake. Numerous priests have failed to exorcise the demons from the nuns at the local convent. Father Suryn (Mieczyslaw Voit) arrives to attempt the ‘cleansing’ of the women. He and other priests do so. Yet the demons return, especially to Mother Joan, who tries to seduce Suryn. Gradually Joan’s demons take over Father Suryn through his love for her. This pushes Suryn towards violent and tragic action.
We are not presented with a supernatural sub-text in Mother. Yet there are many moments when the film strays into eerie horror film territory. Kawalerowicz directs his cast to often address us the audience full on. Their demented expressions are unnerving. Eyes that accuse, judge, lust and calculate. We examine the possessed and they watch us almost posing the question what do you want from me? This locked in viewpoint carries great emotional charge. But also holds back a deeply repressed power, that a passionate and dangerous love (containing but also beyond sexual desire) wants to be expressed which threatens the authority of the church and must be crushed.
The exorcism of the nuns sequence is superbly choreographed for its being shot in a documentary style that’s realist, austere and matter of fact. It’s a job to be done and not a peep show event for the expectant congregation. Admittedly we have a struggling Joan tied down on a bench. Yet it’s the off screen screaming and shouting, as the priests attempt to perform the church service ritual, and a final stunning shot of the nuns prostate, crucifixion like, on the floor that’s unforgettable for its sense of relief and grace. Here we understand why the film is titled Mother Joan of the Angels and not Joan and her devils. The composition of the shot is majestic. You feel the nuns could just fly away and their flight would not only bring liberation but a condemnation of the priests, and assembled audience, over-zealous to witness the Devil.
If The Devils is an extrovert film then Mother Joan of the Angels is in the introvert camp. It’s dark, very strange and relentlessly questioning of faith, feelings and the power of good and evil. Clearly the inexperienced Suryn is going through the stages of mental collapse: believing the only way to save Mother Joan is to obey the commands of Satan. I admired the scene where Kawalerowicz’s camera focuses on Suryn’s reflection in a mirror where he appears to be confronting himself and the cinema audience. The mirror is knocked around to convey his anguish and breakdown . The camera shakes in his shaky world and we are disturbed by his descent into a temporary madness. It’s very unnerving and reminded me of the shock of mirror imagery in Roman Polanski’s Repulsion – still to come five years later from another Polish director of the same generation.
And what of the love and guilty passion between Suryn and Joan? The scene of the self-flagellation of Suryn and Joan in the laundry loft, where washed linen hangs on wooden poles that creak, like a disapproving, chorus of, this act of penance, is remarkably effective and beautifully shot. We glimpse very little as this ritual subtly plays out its pleasure and pain. Ken Russell would have directed this full throttle but Kawalerowicz keeps a measured distance that speaks volumes about the priest / nun relationship.
It’s difficult not to think of the influence of Ingmar Bergman (The Virgin Spring) in the film’s early scenes set in an inn near the convent. But Mother Joan of the Angels never feels derivative. It has a unique and stark visual style (brilliant photography by Jerzy Wojcik.) It’s exteriors and interiors are wonderfully atmospheric, so much so that the settings and the trials and tribulations of its characters create an unease that never really dissipates even at the very end of the film.
Mother Joan of the Angels is part of a distinguished line of the films from the late fifties to 1960 that made Poland a major force in international cinema and has lost known of its originality and compelling power.
Alan Price©2026.
Mother Joan of The Angels (Kawalerowicz)
1960 Second Run Blu-Ray
Before The Devils was Mother Joan! is the publicity cry from Second Run. As the new restoration of Ken Russell’s The Devils packs in cinema audiences I’d be delighted if they then turned their attention to the 4k blu ray of Mother Joan of the Angels. The same historical phenomenon of the devils of Loudon in France is now relocated to Smolensk, Poland. And if Russell gives us savage spectacle and harsh political critique then Kawalerowicz brings intimacy, restraint and a creepy observation of possession / repression. Two very different films. Both masterly. Both essential viewing.
It’s seventeenth century Smolensk, two years on since Father Garniec (Grandier in the Russell film) was wrongly accused of sexually assaulting Mother Joan (Lucyna Winnicka) and burnt at the stake. Numerous priests have failed to exorcise the demons from the nuns at the local convent. Father Suryn (Mieczyslaw Voit) arrives to attempt the ‘cleansing’ of the women. He and other priests do so. Yet the demons return, especially to Mother Joan, who tries to seduce Suryn. Gradually Joan’s demons take over Father Suryn through his love for her. This pushes Suryn towards violent and tragic action.
We are not presented with a supernatural sub-text in Mother. Yet there are many moments when the film strays into eerie horror film territory. Kawalerowicz directs his cast to often address us the audience full on. Their demented expressions are unnerving. Eyes that accuse, judge, lust and calculate. We examine the possessed and they watch us almost posing the question what do you want from me? This locked in viewpoint carries great emotional charge. But also holds back a deeply repressed power, that a passionate and dangerous love (containing but also beyond sexual desire) wants to be expressed which threatens the authority of the church and must be crushed.
The exorcism of the nuns sequence is superbly choreographed for its being shot in a documentary style that’s realist, austere and matter of fact. It’s a job to be done and not a peep show event for the expectant congregation. Admittedly we have a struggling Joan tied down on a bench. Yet it’s the off screen screaming and shouting, as the priests attempt to perform the church service ritual, and a final stunning shot of the nuns prostate, crucifixion like, on the floor that’s unforgettable for its sense of relief and grace. Here we understand why the film is titled Mother Joan of the Angels and not Joan and her devils. The composition of the shot is majestic. You feel the nuns could just fly away and their flight would not only bring liberation but a condemnation of the priests, and assembled audience, over-zealous to witness the Devil.
If The Devils is an extrovert film then Mother Joan of the Angels is in the introvert camp. It’s dark, very strange and relentlessly questioning of faith, feelings and the power of good and evil. Clearly the inexperienced Suryn is going through the stages of mental collapse: believing the only way to save Mother Joan is to obey the commands of Satan. I admired the scene where Kawalerowicz’s camera focuses on Suryn’s reflection in a mirror where he appears to be confronting himself and the cinema audience. The mirror is knocked around to convey his anguish and breakdown . The camera shakes in his shaky world and we are disturbed by his descent into a temporary madness. It’s very unnerving and reminded me of the shock of mirror imagery in Roman Polanski’s Repulsion – still to come five years later from another Polish director of the same generation.
And what of the love and guilty passion between Suryn and Joan? The scene of the self-flagellation of Suryn and Joan in the laundry loft, where washed linen hangs on wooden poles that creak, like a disapproving, chorus of, this act of penance, is remarkably effective and beautifully shot. We glimpse very little as this ritual subtly plays out its pleasure and pain. Ken Russell would have directed this full throttle but Kawalerowicz keeps a measured distance that speaks volumes about the priest / nun relationship.
It’s difficult not to think of the influence of Ingmar Bergman (The Virgin Spring) in the film’s early scenes set in an inn near the convent. But Mother Joan of the Angels never feels derivative. It has a unique and stark visual style (brilliant photography by Jerzy Wojcik.) It’s exteriors and interiors are wonderfully atmospheric, so much so that the settings and the trials and tribulations of its characters create an unease that never really dissipates even at the very end of the film.
Mother Joan of the Angels is part of a distinguished line of the films from the late fifties to 1960 that made Poland a major force in international cinema and has lost known of its originality and compelling power.
Alan Price©2026.
By Alan Price • added recently on London Grip, film • Tags: Alan Price, film